Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [771]
“This could work to your advantage,” Andrew said, trying with effort to keep his breathing steady. If only he could think. If only he could remember all his research and access it now when he needed it. He knew volumes about criminals and sociopaths. Couldn’t he use his knowledge to his advantage? One thing he knew for certain, he had to sound as if he was on Jared’s side.
“What are you talking about?” Jared was still twisting around in the back seat.
Andrew could see Melanie turn toward him, looking for the first time interested. Up until now she had barely acknowledged his presence.
“They’re looking for this car, right?” Andrew continued. “I could be your decoy. Hell, I could drive all the way down to Kansas, maybe cut across Missouri. In the meantime, you could be headed in the opposite direction.”
Silence.
Jared stopped fidgeting. Melanie shifted in her seat to look back at Jared. It took effort for Andrew to keep quiet, to not oversell his plan. He resisted the urge to glance in the rearview mirror. He couldn’t look overly anxious. Jared had to think about how the plan benefited him. A true sociopath thought only in terms of “me.” Andrew was counting on it.
Finally Jared sat forward, reached across the front seat and pointed. “See that farm up ahead. Pull off and head up there.”
CHAPTER 41
11:00 a.m.
Melanie dropped her head back against the soft leather headrest and let out a sigh of relief. Finally Jared was listening to reason. For a brief second she wished she could stay in the car and drive off with Andrew Kane, never mind that it meant certain capture and arrest. She just wanted an end to all this madness.
After following the long driveway, Jared insisted Andrew pull up to the house. The gravel snapped and popped against the bottom of the car despite the Saab slowing to a crawl. Rainwater had filled the tire ruts and the smooth luxury ride turned into a bumpy carnival ride.
Charlie started whistling the theme song from “Green Acres,” and Jared actually laughed before he told him to “shut the fuck up.”
Melanie tried to ignore them. She admired the farmhouse, a big two-story home. When she was a little girl growing up in a smelly roach-infested apartment, she had dreamed about living in a house like this with a long porch, though she would never have told Jared. He would have laughed at her and told her to stop dreaming. The porch even had a swing, the kind you saw in the movies with people sitting out on summer nights, sipping lemonade. This was a house that said, “Come in, make yourself at home, stay awhile.”
“How we gonna do this?” Charlie asked and Melanie could hear him already pulling his backpack from the floor.
“Everybody keep your mouths shut. I’ll handle it. That goes for you, too, Mr. Ordinary Citizen.”
Jared used the radio guy’s term as if it were an insult. Or, Melanie wondered, did he want to remind Andrew that he wasn’t a part of Jared’s team? Not that it mattered; she couldn’t help thinking there didn’t seem to be any perks to being on Jared’s team.
A farmer appeared from the side of the barn. He must have seen them coming up the driveway. He didn’t look at all like Melanie expected. Instead of overalls and a flannel shirt he wore blue jeans and a pale yellow oxford button-down. Instead of a straw hat or feed cap, he had on a red baseball cap.
“Hey, look, Andrew—” Jared pointed “—he has on the same fucking cap you have on.”
The farmer waved to them and started toward the car.
“Everybody fucking smile,” Jared told them.
Melanie heard a rustling from the back and glanced around just in time to see Jared